How To Remove Paint From Hinges – Part One

Hi Friends,

I have a quick post today about an ongoing project I’ve been working on here at the Abode. This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves: painted hardware on doors.

Drives. Me. Nuts.

Yuck!

And of course, since our home was built in 1923, we inherited a lot of painted hardware. Every hinge on every door.  YUP.  Eleven doors x three hinges per door equals thirty-three hinges, plus the two at the top and bottom of the french doors in this picture, makes a total of thirty-seven hinges…with layers and layers of paint.  The doors are awesome.  Solid wood doors.  The hinges…not so much.

Why on earth do people paint over hinges?

Did I mention that SuperHouls is not quite as bothered by this as I am?

Drives. Me. Nuts.

So I had no choice but to find a way to get the paint off…or buy 37 new hinges…and add the old ones to the landfill, which is so unnecessary.  So, I got to work.  Here’s how.

1. To remove the hinges, you need to unscrew them from both the door and the door jamb.  As you can see the person who painted these made sure they covered every inch with paint, including the screws.  So nice of them.

More Yuck!

2.  Either an old crock pot or kettle works well for this step.  Whichever one you use, be sure you don’t use it for cooking food afterwards.  I know this goes without saying.  #justsayin

I bought this old kettle at a garage sale for two bucks – I know, right? – specifically for this purpose.

3.  Fill with water, bring the water to a boil and add baking soda.

4.  Reduce heat, drop hardware in and let simmer for a few hours.

5.  After a few hours, most of the paint will peel right off the hinges. If there are multiple layers of paint, you can repeat this process until all the layers are removed.  I use a special tool to pry the paint out of all the nooks and crannies…a toothpick.

After first soaking.

Special tool…a toothpick.

Hinges after paint is removed from first soak.

When all the paint is removed, your hinges should look something like this…

Hinges after second soak and ready to be cleaned and polished.

And just when you thought you were done…and you could be…but if you’re neurotic like me, you’ll want to clean and polish them before putting them back on your doors.  I’ll save that for part two.

Hey, if you enjoyed reading this, why not share it, or follow me, or both?

Be well,

Eileen

Done!